Method of charging gas-tanks.



#No. 847,727. PATENTBD MAR. 19, 1907.

. R.B.BRUGKNER. 7

METHOD OF CHARGING GAS TANKS.

APPLICATION FILED OOT.3.1, 1906;

2 sums-sum 1.

'PATENTED MAR. 19, 1907.

R. B; BARUCKNER. METHOD OF CHARGING GAS TANKS.

APPLIOATION FILED 0011.31, 1906.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

45 the tanks are properly char ed,- there is no danger from this source. T e normal pres-.

PATENT oFFIoE. A

l RUDOLPH E. BRueKNE OF MOUNT V RNON, NEW YORK, ASSIGNOR TO v THE COMMERCIAL ACETYLENE COMPANY, OF NEW YORK, N. Y., A COR.-

' To all whom it may concern.-

station.

roRA'moN OF NEW JERSEY.

Mari-loo. OF CHARGING} GAS-TANKS.

. Be it known that I, RUDOLPH E. BRUCK- mm, a citizen of the United States, residing at Mount Vernon,-Westchester county, New

York, have invented certain n'ewand useful Improvements in Methods of Chzu'ging Gas- Tanks, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description. I

My invention relates to the storage of acetylene gas and the charging of portable tanks. By portabletanks I mean tanks such as are filled in one locality and tran'sported to be used in some other locality such for instance, as tanks usedv on automobiles and railway-cars, which are charged at a central It .is customary tostore acetylene gas un der pressurein a tank or tanks containing a more or. less porous substance together with a quantity of a liquid absorbent, such as acetone. It is not generally feasible to compress the gas directly into the portable tanks from the gas-generator; so .I- havedevised a.

system and apparatus for temporarily sto'ring the gas so that the portable tanks may be.

A filled at any time from the holding-reservoir;

For this purpose the principal storage-tank, which may conveniently be termed a holdmg-reservoir, is constructedsimilarly to the portable tanks, preferably of larger capacity, so that suflicient gas maybe stored in the holding-reservoir for-char ing a number of portable tanks, The holding-resenvoir is supplied with acetone or an equivalent and is charged with gas under pressure by means of a'suitable compressor or 'ump.

The charge in the portable tanks shou (1 contam only a certainproportion of the liquid absorbent' for instance, acetone. If this proportlon of acetone is" too great, there is dan er of the excess being carried over into the o'w-pressure line of the lighting system 4 leading from the tank, resulting in an obstruction of the pipes, flickering, and sometimes extinction of the light or lights. When be understood, of course, that the pressure is reduced between the portable tank and. the;

. Specification of .Letterslatent. lilplioflfitm filed 0mm 31,1996. Serial Na susee.

' tanks.

"shown in Fig. 2.

.plie' tank 1,. preferabl{ Patented am n 19', 1901.

burners in the lighting system by a suitable device. After use the pressure in the 'rtable-tanks willof. course be reduced. charging it has been found that the sudden rush of gasin charging the tank by the old methods causes sucharapid flow from the. storage system that the liquid absorbent in lie the storage-reservoir is entrained with the gas and rushes through the charging-lines into the portable tank, thus-causing an excess of the liquid in the latter. 'l'oavoid this difliculty, I have deviseda method and means for removing any excess liquid absorbent from the gas at a pointintermediate the storage-reservoir and the pressure-tank V which is being charged. The system also provides for the return of this excess liquid "to the storage-reservoir,thereby avoiding all f loss of acetone, while at the,same time guaranteeing a Figure .1 is a diag'rammaticview of a sysproper charging of the portable tom and apparatus embodying the improvements of my invention. "Fig. 2 isa vertical sectional view of means for removing the liquid absorbent from the gas after it leaves 1 the storage-reservoir. Fig. 3 is an enlarged fragmentarydetail of a partof the apparatus Thejstorage-reservoir consists of one-or more tanks, such as 1, and is supplied when l' necessary with gas under pressure from a suitable generating system and compressor,

(conventionally indicated at 2.}. The supply-pipe 3 leads to a point near thetop of l each of the storage-tanks, and the valve 4 is provided for-each branohof said "pipe for outting off the sulpply to any particular tank.

A li uid absor ent, such as acetone, is'supto each tank -1 from the reservoir ,5, which latter is connected b a gipe 6 toeach neart e ttom. The

reservoir 5-1'nay whenever required through with galve' 5 .d d f 11mg h 1 may e provi e or contro t e suppy of acetoneto tanks 1 1. A branch pipe-7,

toneinto the storage-tanks 1. as required, has a valve 8.

e supplied with acetoneipe 5?, provided Suitable vaves (not shown)" '9 leads toward the center, where it is connected to a main pipe 10, valves 9 9 being provided for pipes 9 9. I

'Between the main 10 and the pipe 11, from which the portable tanks (not shown) are charged, islocated ap aratus forremoving any excess of the liquid absorbent that may have been entrained with the' gas by reason of the action before referred to. This apparatus consists of acase 12, Fig. 2, up into which projects the discharge end of pipe 10 and from the upper end of which exten s the charging-pipe 11 for the portable tanks.

. The upper end of the main 10 is closed or hooded, and a plurality of side outlets, such as 13 13, are provided, which are preferably inclined downwardly, as shown in Fig. 3. When an abnormal reduction in pressure occurs within the chamber 12 by reason of the o ening of the outlet-valve 14 in pipe 11 for t e purpose of charging a portable tank, gas from the storage-reservoir rushes through the main 10 and passes through the orifices 13 13 into theease 12. In case any of the liquid has been entrained with the gas it will be released upon this suddenexpansion and delivery into the case 12 and will fall into the "bottom of the latter- The quantity of liquid in the case;12 can be readily determined at any time, for instance, by means of a sightglass 15, connected to the chamber. When any considerable quantity is collected, it

may be drawn oil? and conveyed back to the acetone-reservoir 5 through the pipe 16, a valve 17 therein being opened for this purose.

It will be obvious that flexible or ex and- "ing connections may be provided in the pipelines at any point where it may be desirable or necessary to compensate for expansion and other movements of the parts of the system.

The form and arrangements of the storage-.

reservoir and the number of tanks employed is immaterial; but the reservoir shoul pref erably be of such size as to make 'it unnecestransit of the same from said reservoir to said tank so that only substantially dry gas will be contained in the latter. 1

2. In a gas storing and charging system, the method of charging a tank with gas from a storage-reservoir consisting first in charging under pressure the reservoir with gas and a liquid absorbent, then conveying the same under pressure to a separating device, there abstracting from'the gas any absorbent that is in a liquid state and conveyingunder pressure the gas thus obtained to the portable tank and returning the liquidabsorbent thus extracted to the storage-reservoir.

. RUDOLPH E. BRUCKNER.

Witnesses:

' R. O. MITonELL, L. VREELAND. 

